Clockwise

In 1986 I was briefed to create the animated opening title sequence of the feature film 'CLOCKWISE' starring John Cleese, directed by Christopher Morahan, written by Michael Frayn, produced by Michael Codron. Music by George Fenton.

Main titles and opticals by Geoff Axtell Associates. The opening credits were to replicate the effect of the public rail transport timetables of the time. These train departure boards built up words with small flaps precisely rotated to show the desired characters and create full words to define a place destination.

This resulted in a lot of experimentation and the effect was finally produced by quickly showing a partial alphabet that then revealed each word. The speed of the transition was important and after a number of tests all shot on a rostrum camera at Geoff Axtell Associates we had our effect.

The main tile was revealed in a similar way but slightly different - in that it revealed and partially 'reverse animated' before dissappearing on a black background. It was during this time that I met and worked with optical planner and cameraman Martin Bullard who later went on to form the independent optical and digital effects company 'Cine Image' in November 1991.